Can Clowns Change Colors?

[theplantman]

One of my clowns, the male, seems to be changing color. It looks like he is turning black in front of his middle bar.

3 months ago - Male is top right


http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt17/theplantman/Solana%20Build/09-01-25-002.jpg?t=1237511658" alt="" />

Now
[IMG]http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt17/theplantman/Solana%20Build/IMG_1283.jpg?t=1237512067" alt="" />
[IMG]http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt17/theplantman/Solana%20Build/IMG_1285.jpg?t=1237512120" alt="" />

And a side note, our new sun coral. We love it.

[IMG]http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt17/theplantman/Solana%20Build/IMG_1275.jpg?t=1237512334" alt="" />

 

[ralph atl]

yeah, they can darken. One of mine did, too.

 

[theplantman]

thanks ralph, just out of curiosity, will he go all black or be mixed like he is now

 

[theplantman]

Barbara;311398 wrote: They can get darker, but in your case it sort of looks like a sting of some kind. The 2nd picture of "now" seems blotched, like a coral is stinging him. Plus it's usually the female that gets darker.

What are they hosting? An anemone? Or a patch of zoas? If they are hosting a patch of zoas or a mushroom, I have seen those dark spots from a sting, or whatever you want to call the reaction to the host coral.

the only think they are hosting is the back wall of our Solana, I have yet to see them even brush up against a coral in the tank. They tend to hover along the back wall or no closer than about an inch to any of the corals. And at night they sleep at least 8" away from any coral.

 

[dakota9]

I had a Clown fish that hosted hair algae during an out break. The outbreak of hair algae lasted two months, but the clown stayed green for almost a year.

Off topic in retrospect......... sorry

 

[ralph atl]

theplantman;311387 wrote: thanks ralph, just out of curiosity, will he go all black or be mixed like he is now

not all black, but mine (female) does get darker and has spots, too. It's inconsistent, though. no change at all, then, a little darker. She hasn't gotton darker in a while. Maybe you have them mixed up? maybe it's changing into a female?

no clue why though. I don't know if it's dependent upon sex either.

 

[tokejr]

What time of day did you take the "dark" pictures?

I ask because my damsels do change to a smoky color when they are stressed (I'm cleaning the tank) and first thing in the morning.

Since clowns are in the same families as damsels, this may just be a normal color change depending on time of day of tank conditions.

 

[theplantman]

We have had them for 3 months, they have been practically inseparable since i put them in the tank, I purposely picked the largest and smallest that the LFS had because I read that the male is the smaller of the two in clownfish. The one that is turning dark is about 1.5" long the other about 2-2.5". The reason I say the darker is the male because I notice them acting like they are going to spawn and the dark one always acts like the male and the larger is more aggressive.

As far as corals, we purposely stocked hammer, frogspawn and alveopora because after research from numerous books and articles they were some of the most likely corals for clowns to host. Our tank is going to be heavy coral and I did not want an anemone running rampant and stinging everything in its path as our tank is 34 gallon. all water parameters are excellent, everyone eats well, no disease or fish loss ever and I do a water change every 7 days.(5 gallons)

 

[theplantman]

tokejr;311432 wrote: What time of day did you take the "dark" pictures?

I ask because my damsels do change to a smoky color when they are stressed (I'm cleaning the tank) and first thing in the morning.

Since clowns are in the same families as damsels, this may just be a normal color change depending on time of day of tank conditions.

took the picture 5 minutes before posting this thread, and he stays dark morning through night, I have not noticed any variation during different times of the day, just a slow gradual change in color. But completely healthy

 

[tokejr]

theplantman;311437 wrote: We have had them for 3 months, they have been practically inseparable since i put them in the tank, I purposely picked the largest and smallest that the LFS had because I read that the male is the smaller of the two in clownfish. The one that is turning dark is about 1.5" long the other about 2-2.5". The reason I say the darker is the male because I notice them acting like they are going to spawn and the dark one always acts like the male and the larger is more aggressive.

As far as corals, we purposely stocked hammer, frogspawn and alveopora because after research from numerous books and articles they were some of the most likely corals for clowns to host. Our tank is going to be heavy coral and I did not want an anemone running rampant and stinging everything in its path as our tank is 34 gallon. all water parameters are excellent, everyone eats well, no disease or fish loss ever and I do a water change every 7 days.(5 gallons)

The fact that they are hanging out at the surface of the tank concerns me. That's usually a sign of low oxygenation in the tank.

Can you tell us a little about the setup and water parameters?

 

[theplantman]

tokejr;311443 wrote: The fact that they are hanging out at the surface of the tank concerns me. That's usually a sign of low oxygenation in the tank.

Can you tell us a little about the setup and water parameters?

they tend to hang around 2/3 up the tank, rarely at the surface, only to eat flakes.

I feed a varied diet, Mysis, brine, cyclops, zoos, dt's, marine nutrition spirolina pellets, omega one flakes. I rotate them out.

PH 8.1
Calcium 400
Ammonia does not register
nitrates do not register
phosphates do not register
temp 77.8-79.5
salinity 1.025

Tank Set up 34 gallon Solana
stock return pump
Remora C with mag 1200 skimmer
Phosban reactor
UV Sterilizer (only runs for 2 weeks after new tank introductions)
2 koralia ones pointing to the surface
fan blowing across top of water 1" from surface.
Sunpod 250w metal halide day cycle from 1-9pm
H2Ocean salt with 5 gal water change every 7 days

 

[theplantman]

thanks ares, was just curious, i did not realize false percs turned dark, all the photos you see are always bright orange

 

[theplantman]

if i got a true perc, it was a mistake at the lfs, they were in a tank labelled false percs.

 

[theplantman]

ares;311480 wrote: a true perc

Ares, you may be right, i noticed in some of the photos I looked at that the true perc does not have the white bands around its side fins and the false percs do. My large clown has the white border, the smaller has lost the white border on the side fins.

Will the two remain okay together if they are diferent species?

 

[theplantman]

Thanks Barbara, I'll give it a try tomorrow when my lights are back on.

 

[theplantman]

Well, I'll let you know how the counting goes. I'm off for the night. Thanks everyone for all the feedback.

 

[rostato]

They change!

Here is my pair of true perc when I bought them over two years ago.

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One jumped but here is the other one now...

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And here is my true and false perc together. You can see the differences.

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[rostato]

better pic of now.

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[theplantman]

Great pics rostato, now I kinda hope it is a true perc.

 

[rostato]

ares;311595 wrote: they tend to get along fine together BTW. infact they can mate and form a percularis. dont believe thats a scientific name, but whatever. Ive heard it, so Ill repeat it

Shortly after that pic I had to seperate them. The true perc was a mean little you know what. But, I think if I introduced them at the same time all would have been well...